Crock Pot Ribs - YUM!

We had family over this past weekend to watch the Daytona 500.  I was looking for something easy to make in the crock pot and we haven't had ribs in awhile.  I found this recipe, made some tweaks to make it work for me (WLS friendly) and it turned out really well.  Our family all seemed to like it.  We originally served the ribs with mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls.  For leftovers this week, Ryan and I shredded the rest of the pork and had BBQ Pork sandwiches.  Yum!  A little hard to see in this pic, but finger lickin' good :)



Not pictured: 1 extra bottle of BBQ sauce.  Owls are salt and pepper :) Chopped onions are in the back.

(This is for a double batch - easily feeds 4-6 adults with leftovers. Can be cut in half. For double batch, make in 5 or 6 qt. crock pot)

Ingredients:

• 5-6 lbs. boneless pork country-style ribs
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced or chopped (again I used the store bought chopped ones, 8oz. - so much easier)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (I used prepared garlic and used x4, 1/2 teaspoons of it)
• 2/3 cup splenda brown sugar
• salt and pepper - just a sprinkling of each on each side of the meat.
• 12 oz apple juice (I used Gerber little 4oz bottles, it's what I had on hand ;)
• 2 jars or bottles of barbecue sauce (each of my bottles were 19oz - only 1 pictured)
• Additional items you'll need: A strainer and Reynolds crock-pot liner bags (they make clean-up a breeze!)

Directions:
Place onions in the bottom of the crock-pot.  Add boneless ribs to the crock-pot. Sprinkle 1/2 of the minced garlic, brown sugar, salt and pepper over the ribs. Flip the ribs and sprinkle the remaining half of the minced garlic, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Pour the apple juice over the ribs (it's ok if it washes some of the seasoning off - it all cooks together).  Cook on low for 8-9 hours or cook on high for 3-4 hours (whatever fits your schedule).

After cooking, remove the pork from the crock pot and set aside on a plate or dish. Some of the onions might still stay stuck to the pork - that's fine. They're good :) If you sliced your onions (instead of using the pre-bought ones), you might want to save them.  To do this, dump the "juices" and fat from the bottom of the crock-pot into a strainer. Once the liquid has drained, add the onions back to the pork sitting on the side plate or bowl.  Pour 1 bottle (yes, the whole bottle) of BBQ sauce in the bottom of the crock pot (make sure your life saving crock pot liner is there to save you a nightmare during cleanup!).  Return the pork and any onions that are left back to the crock pot.  Pour the second bottle of BBQ sauce on top of the pork and onions.  Turn the crock-pot on high and let cook for an additional 45min-1 hour.  Serve with sides or make into sandwiches.  Whatever floats your rib lovin' boat :) 

And finally, little man has a double ear infection... AGAIN!  So I'm thinking some more crock-pot recipes will be in our future.  Easy and prepared ahead of time is what you do when you have a sick and fussy toddler, right?  Actually, what we plan to do tonight is take a Mommy/Daddy sick day from dinner (from being up all night with little man) and order chinese.  Maybe this weekend we'll get back to cookin - stay tuned ;)

Update - chinese place in town closed :(  We had another night of leftovers.  Only positive - we've officially cleaned out the fridge :)  Looks like I'll be cooking tomorrow night!